I think the free hours spent each month with our professionals is a dynamite idea, and it it were me, that would probably be the hook that would make me sign up: I would have tangible, trained help at hand, wouldn't have to figure it all out by myself.

HOWEVER, would it be sooooo terrible to charge a very nominal amount -- say $10 -- per person for the health evaluation/consults? I think people would respect the consultant AND the information received much better, don't you? And I'd feel a little less like a doormat.

You can certainly charge a fee for your services. The great thing about an NSP business is that it is your business to run the way that you see fit. I'm sure that many managers who do this program will be charging a fee for their time/services. I hope we can get some feedback here from some others about what they are doing - fee or no fee, how much, etc. - as well as discussions pro and con - how it is working for them, etc.

People tend to value a service more when they have to pay for it. (If it doesn't cost anything, it must not be worth much.) However, medical doctors are used to drug salesmen coming into their offices with all sorts of "free" advice (as well as samples) and chiropractors are used to nutrition salesmen coming into their offices doing the same thing with vitamins. HOWEVER, (and note - that's a big however), these people don't do consultations with the patients. They are only "selling" the doctor. So we are in a different category here. I think it will work no matter which way you go. Do what you feel comfortable with, talking it over with your professional to insure that he/she is comfortable with it as well. After all, when it comes to his/her office, s/he is the boss!

One thing to keep in mind is that in some cases such consultations (because ordered by the doctor) might be covered by the patient's insurance (assuming they have decent insurance.) Ask your professional what s/he thinks about charging the patients' insurance for your consultaions. Something to think about. Maybe s/he can get compensated from the insurance company, and pay you for your services. Point is, there are all kinds of ways to do this, depending on the people involved (it wouldn't work for me because I am a cash-only chiropractor who does not accept insurance.) So my recommendation is to play that one by ear, but in the beginning concentrate on getting your foot in the door!_________________Dr. Duane Weed, MS, DC, LAc
http://www.mynsp.com/weed
Natural Health School
http://www.naturalhealthschool.com

I am convinced that there are no products superior in quality to NSP's. Now some of these products are DIFFERENT from NSP, but of similar quality. For example, SP is a glandular company. NSP is mainly an herb company. So there is a difference. But in no way are any of these BETTER in quality than NSP's.

A LOT of professionals, including chiropractors, use products far inferior to NSP's products. (Not the brands you mentioned, which are good quality, but many other brands that professionals use.) Before NSP I used a lot of products of inferior quality, because I didn't know the difference. I can tell you I started getting better results with nutritional products when I started using NSP's. And that will make all the difference to professionals, who are far more concerned with their reputation, than with how cheaply they can purchase products!

I would get a quality control brochure, and have it handy when you meet with someone. You don't have to give it to them, but have it handy so you can thumb through it and briefly show the quality control procedures. This adds some third party credibility to what you have to say about quality.

Q: Why are *you *using NSP *instead of* these or others?..

A: Because I have gotten better results with them mainly. But also because it is very helpful to be able to buy everything you need from one company (and more profitable as well.)

Q: NEW MEMBERS. The webinar suggested the staff handle signing patients up as members online while they're there, or giving them the info to sign themselves up online. How receptive to this would chiros and other health professionals be? Seems to me it would be a turnoff because MLMs do NOT have a good reputation in general, and also because they'd really rather have the retail sales, wouldn't they -- at least in the short term?

A: First of all, the professional will need a mynsp.com web site. This will not be a problem because they are terribly affordable. Now remember that they have the option of showing either retail prices, or both, on their mynsp.com web sites. If they prefer to do the retail route, their staff can help them place their retail orders online, without signing them up. Then the patient can also return to that same web site to reorder. So they have the option of doing this completely retail if they want to. But most will probably opt to give them the membership option.

I believe that most chiropractors are very receptive to MLM. I know many chiropractors, and I never run into anything negative about MLM. Most that you meet will not have a negative preconception of MLM at all. There will be exceptions, depending on what their experiences have been with the way other MLMers have approached them. But most are aware that it really depends more on the company, rather than the type of company. They may have some negative ideas about specific MLM companies (like Amway, whose reputation has become so bad that they don't even tell people who they are any more. (Now they call themselves Quixtar.)) But this negativitity is company specific.

You will find that many chiropractors have heard about NSP, and they will be favorably inclined toward NSP. In chiropractic seminars that I attend, many products are mentioned, and sometimes NSP products are mentioned specifically. (Recently, a DC teaching a nutrition seminar that I attended mentioned several NSP products by name, including Para-Cleanse. He mentioned them in very positive terms. He is not an NSP distributor. He uses many brands, but he buys his NSP products from one of his patients.)

As I mentioned above, some will prefer to keep the retail sales to themselves, others will be very open to signing up people. You will have to play this by ear and work with them where they are comfortable. They can always change their minds later on once they become more familiar with how the system really works (and when they start getting their checks, and catching the vision.)

Q: If someone comes to a health eval and ends up spending $40 worth, why not go ahead and make them a member? What are your thoughts?

A: I always give people the option of signing up as a member. I have found that in the long run what matters the most is retention, and this is a good way of retaining them. It is also the best way to "upselling" them. And after retention, upselling them us right up their in importance.

Q: --- however, at the same time, one of the presenters mentioned, almost off-handedly, that the professionals actually have 3 different ways to do the biz: direct clients to the website instead of get involved in retail
sales; no sign ups (retail only); the regular way, a combination of both. So
maybe that's the answer -- let the professional decide.

A: Yes, definitely! You must let them decide. If you aren't totally in agreement with their decision, remember first of all this it is their business you are talking about, and remember secondly that initially what you need to do is get them in the program. Then later on, you can give them your ideas about doing it differently.

If you can just get the customer, then hopefully you can get the member, because everyone wants to save money. After all, who would want to pay full retail, when they can get the member prices, ESPECIALLY when you can get the membership for FREE! $40 really isn't very many products!

It was also $40 to sign up way back 10 years ago and longer! It was harder then because due to inflation, $40 was a LOT more money than it is today. For example, when we used to sign up new members, we had to get them to buy four or more products in order to reach the $40. Now, with some products it just takes one, or two! And it is a LOT easier to get people to part with $40 now than it used to be! (You can "thank" the Fed, who is responsible for inflation, for that. I say this facetiously of course because inflation is really no laughing matter.)_________________Dr. Duane Weed, MS, DC, LAc
http://www.mynsp.com/weed
Natural Health School
http://www.naturalhealthschool.com